we started that in iraq. we need to start that in syria and bring this to an end. >> i agree with steve. one of my favorites savings is a virtual presence is an absence. if you think about how you want these things to come out, and we have an interest in that, you have to understand that you cannot sit back. hope is not a strategy. since the fall of iran, party- line in middle east, -- particularly in the middle east, the people who have emerged from these dictators are generally the people who are the best organized. the people who are best organized are generally radical. if you do not want to go through another bad period, you need to do things the counter that reality. they are the best organizers. i think his point about working with friends and allies in the region you also have significant equities, the presence of the united states with these allies can bring back and help rekindle the israeli/turkish relationship which would be instrumental. i do think that the syrian question is particularly importa